■ NEW ZEALAND
Yachtmen rescued at sea
Ten Frenchmen from a racing yacht that capsized yesterday were winched to safety by helicopter and flown to dry land, rescue officials said. Three rescue helicopters winched the crew of the Groupama III to safety in mid-afternoon and flew them to Taieri Airfield near the southern city of Dunedin, Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Ross Henderson said. The sailors were uninjured and all 10 were in survival gear and sitting on the upturned hull of the catamaran when they were picked up about 145km off the coast, he said.
■ NEW ZEALAND
Silent song tops charts
It's a doggone chartbuster -- a song audible only to dogs has topped New Zealand record charts and is looking to go global. A Very Silent Night recorded at a frequency only dogs can hear, was so popular among owners it hit number one at Christmas, but has been receiving mixed responses from listeners. "The most violent one was a dog that physically attacked the radio when it was played and went quite berserk and totally destroyed it," said Bob Kerridge, chief executive of animal welfare group, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "On the other side of the scale, they just lie down and did nothing."
■ AUSTRALIA
Antarctic waters warming
The longest continuous record of temperature changes in the Southern Ocean has found that Antarctic waters are warming and sea levels are rising, an Australian scientist said yesterday. The data from a joint Australian, French and US program has been collected over 15 years by the French supply ship Astrolabe during its regular voyages to the Antarctic base Dumont D'Urville. Steve Rintoul, who leads the Australian side of the program, said the data had given scientists a foundation for studying the remote and inhospitable Antarctic waters and how changes there could impact on the global climate.
■ FIJI
British lawyer deported
A British lawyer representing the International Bar Association has been arrested and deported on her arrival on the orders of the post-coup interim government, officials said on Sunday. Felicia Johnston was detained by immigration officials when her flight arrived on Saturday morning and put on a Brisbane-bound flight seven hours later. She was part of a panel of jurists scheduled to visit the troubled nation to examine the state of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. However, her deportation has prompted the international law body to suspend the study visit which was scheduled to start yesterday.
■ JAPAN
Drunken Marine enters home
Tokyo voiced anger yesterday after a drunken US Marine was found passed out in a local home on the southern island of Okinawa, where just a week ago another US soldier was arrested on rape allegations. "I only have one thing to express and that is our true anger," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, the top government spokesman. Corporal Shawn Cody Jake, 21, was found at 4:25am yesterday morning on a sofa inside the house of a local family in Nago City who did not know the man, according to the Okinawa police. "He was arrested at the scene for trespassing," a police spokesman said.
■ GUYANA
Gunmen hit police station
Unidentified gunmen late on Sunday killed 12 people during an assault on a police station at a gold-mining township in the southwest, in the second massacre to have occurred in less than one month, authorities said. Regional Chairman Hilbert Knights said three police and nine civilians were killed and several others injured. He said that at least six men had arrived via the Essequibo River in a speedboat and invaded the Bartica police station. Divisional Police Commander Gavin Primo said the gunmen, who were dressed in military fatigues, took weapons stored at the station. A team of soldiers and police were deployed to the area to track down the gunmen, TV reports said.
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